Selecting Irish Cheese For A Cheeseboard
Buying a Fine Selection of Artisan Cheeses from Ireland
Oct 28, 2008
Patricia Michelson, founder of La Fromagerie in London England in 1991, sets out in The Cheese Room (Michael Joseph, 2001) a selection of Irish cheeses for a culinary cheeseboard : Durrus, Ardrahan, Gubbean, Coolea, Cashel Blue and Cooleeney.
Here’s an introduction to each of the cheeses, in alphabetical order, that could make a fine selection for a Irish cheeseboard.
Ardrahan Farmhouse Cheese From Ireland
Producers of Ardrahan Farmhouse Cheese in Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland, describe the award-winning cheese as “Ardrahan is a type of semi-soft cheese with a pungent aroma, Ardrahan cheese has buttery textured honey-coloured centre with a complex delicate flavour. It has a washed rind which grows into a golden colour…. it is a hand-made product.” Ardrahan is available to buy in the UK from cheese counters including Selfridges, Fortnum and Mason and Harvey Nicholls.
Cashel Blue Cheese From Ireland
Recognised as Ireland’s original artisan blue cheese, Cashel Blue is available from gourmet cheese counters, international cheese shops and farmers’ markets. Developed in 1984 by Jane and Louis Crubb, Cashel Blue is “a unique product made by a single family on a single farm in Tipperary, Ireland… made entirely by hand from whole un-homogenised cows milk”
Coolea Cheese From Ireland
Winner of the Best Irish Cheese at the British Cheese Awards in 2007 and Best modern British Cheese, Coolea cheese is a consistent high quality fresh cow’s milk cheese, available plain or matured. The producers in Ireland of Coolea write “Coolea Cheese is hand made on the mountain farm of Dick and Sinead Willems in Coolea Co. Cork. Nothing but 100% health fresh cows milk is used to produce this high quality cheese. Mild and creamy with a distinct flavour suitable for every occasion”
Cooleeney Cheese From Ireland
Exported worldwide, Cooleeney cheeses have been described by The Brigestone Irish Food Guide as “Some of the most effulgent, lurid and insolently powerful cheeses in Ireland, something so good you could walk a country mile in the rain to eat it again”.
Durrus Farmhouse Cheese From Ireland
Durrus is an artisan Irish cheese, a farmhouse cheese that has been made by Jeffa Gill since 1979. Durrus is available at many international cheesemongers and cheese shops including Murrays Cheese Shop, East Village, New York US. Durrus is a winner of many international awards including Gold in the 2005 World Cheese Awards. Durrus is described by its producers as “Durrus Irish Farmhouse Cheese is a raw milk cheese, made using traditional methods in the beautiful upland valley of Coomkeen, on the Sheep’s Head peninsula, in the far south-west of Ireland.”
Gubbeen Cheese From Ireland
Gubbeen Cheese is produced by fifth generation farmer Tom Ferguson and his wife Giana near Schull in County Cork, Gubbeen Farmhouse Products who write: “Our land and the food we produce are connected. This is the food that we love eating ourselves and we hope others will enjoy it too. We keep our land healthy; this produces healthy animals and crops from which we make our Gubbeen Farmhouse Produce for your family’s health”. Gubbeen cheese is available to buy from many online cheese shops. Cheese lovers will find Gubbeen, a washed rind cheese made with pasteurised milk and matured for 8 to 16 weeks has a slightly pungent smell.
This introduction aims to provide some inspiration for putting together a culinary cheeseboard of Irish cheeses.
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